Traction-engine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(Nb Model.)

J. BEOKNER.

TRACTION ENGINE.

In Venfor Patented May 19, 1891.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. BEGKNER.

TRACTION ENGINE.

No. 452,592. Patented May 19, 1891.

Inward 0r aww (No Model 3 Sheets-Sh eet 3.

J. BECKNER.

TRACTION ENGINE.

No. 452,592. Patented'May 19; 1891.

we NORRIS-PETERS co., wa'rcrunw, WLSHINGYON, n. c.

UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES BEOKNER, OF ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI.

TRACTION-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 452,592, dated May 19, 1891.

Application filed November '7, 1890. Serial No. 370,598. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES BEOKNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Joseph, in the county of Buchanan and'State of Missouri, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Traction Steam-Engines and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in portable steam-engines; and it has for its object to secure increased power at a reduced consumption of fuel as compared with other engines of a similar nature and to provide for the successful accomplishment of the various outdoor work which is required of an engine of this character.

WVith these and other ends in view my invention consists in the combinations of devices and novel construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to readily understand my invention, I will now proceed to a detailed description thereof in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan View of a portable engine embodying myimprovements. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof on the line 00 {U of Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4,'and5 are detail perspective views of parts of my improvements. Fig. 6 is a plan View of the grate, and Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the turn-table.

Like letters and numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings, referring to which- A designates the carrying-frame of my improved portable engine.

B C are the front and rear axles, respectively.

D are the rear supporting and driving wheels, and E are the smaller wheels on the front axle, which is made to do the duty of steering the machine by the steering appliance, presently to be referred to.

The carrying frame consist-s of two parts 1 2, one of which is arranged within the other, each part or member having side bars arranged parallel with the corresponding bars of the other part, and the inner member 2 of the frame has its rear ends secured directly to the rear crossbar of the outer part 1, while the forward ends of said inner part or member converge on inclined lines, as at 2, (see dotted lines in Fig. 1,) and are united in any suitable manner to each other and to the front cross-bar of the outer part 1 of the frame.

Situated between the side bars of the inner part of the carrying-frame is the upright boiler F, and this boiler is suspended from the carrying-frame and rigidly attached thereto by means of hangers 4, one of which is illustrated in detail in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The hanger is right-angled in form, and the vertical arm is bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the boiler-shell, while the horizontal arm has long depending bolts 5, which straddle one of the side bars of the inner member of the carrying-frame, which bolts receive straps or plates 6, that bear against the lower sides of the side bar of the frame.

Between the side bars of the two parts 1 2 of the carrying-frame and on opposite sides of the upright boiler are placed the two cylinders G H, each of which is firmly secured in place on the carrying-frame in any suitable manner. In these cylinders operate the pistons g h, (indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2,) and the piston-rods g h extend rearward from the cylinders and connect, respectively, with the cranks t 7' on the driving-shaft I. Said driving-shaftextends transversely across the frame 1 in rear of the boiler and the rear axle O, and it is journaled in suitable fixed bearings J J on the side bars of the inner and outerparts of the carrying-frame. The cranks i j of said drivingshaft are set diametrically opposite to each other, and as two cylinders and two pistons are employed I am enabled to overcome the common objection of dead-centers in the operation of the engines of ordinary form, as by this arrangement employed dead-centers are wholly avoided, the connection between the cranks and piston -rods being accom plished in any practical manner with which others skilled in this art are familiar.

Steam is supplied to the steam-chests of the two cylinders by means of a supply-pipe 8, which enters the steam-space of the vertical boiler, preferably at the front thereof, and it leads downward from the top to a point about half-way down the boiler, at which point the pipe 8 is divided into two branch pipes SJ 1), which extend horizontally around the sides of the boiler and enter the steam-chests 1011 of the two cylinders G II. The valve (not shown) of each cylinder has its red 12 ex tending rearward from its steam-chest, and it. is connected to a head 13, which in turn connects with two rods 11- l-t, the rear ends of which are provided with yokes that fit around eccentrics 15 on the driving-shaft I for the proper operation of the controlling-valve, it being understood that each cylinder has this valve mechanism just described.

To adapt the improved traction-engine for use for a number of hours without renewing the fuel and water supply and without the attendance of a tank-wagon and at the same time promote economy in the use of fuel, Iprovide the traction-engine with its own waterchamber, fuel-reservoir, means for purifying the water before its admission to the tank, and means for utilizing a portion of the exhaust-steam to heat the feed-water to a considerable temperature before admitting it to the boiler.

The water-tank 1G is situated at the front end of the carrying-frame and extends, preferably, from one side of the frame to the other, to which frame said tank is rigidly secured in any preferable way, and on the top of this tank is erected the magazine 17, which consists in one embodiment of my invention of a box-shaped magazine formed by vertical walls or flanges on the top of the water-tank.

At the rear end of the carrying-frame 1 is arranged the primary water-receiving vessel 18, which is suitably fixed to the frame at or about the plane of the bars of said frame, and in this primary receiving-vessel is situated a suitable filteringor water-purifyi ngapparatus for the purpose of cleansing the feed-water of sediment and impurities before passing the feed-water to the tank. The connection between the primary vesscl 18 and the feedwater tank 16 is secured by means of a pipe 19, extending underneath the boiler, and the feed-water is passed from the tank 16 to the boiler by means of a pipe 20, a suitable injector being connected to the feed-water pipe to force the water into the boiler, as will be readily understood.

The feed-water in the tank 10' is heated by a portion of the exhaust-steam from each cylinder, which exhauststcam is conveyed from said cylinder to the tank by means of pipes 21, which extend from the cylinders to the tank and discharge the steam into the same, while the remaining portion of the exhauststeam is conducted by pipes 22 to the smokestack of the boiler and is discharged into the same to promote the draft of the boiler.

By the employment of the filtering and heating devices for the fecd-water and the means for promoting draft in the smoke-stack I am enabled to utilize the exhaust-steam and to effect a material saving in the use of fuel, as

thepurifyingof thewaterand heating thereof secures an economy of about thirty (30) per cent. of fuel, at least approximately. Furthermore, by reducing the force and volume of exhaust-steam discharged into the smokestack I am enabled to overcome the objection of creating too much draft therein and forcing out sparks and live einders, and I further provide a spark-arrester 26 overthe outlet of the smoke-stack, which embodies a fine screen of gauze in its construction to more effectually obviate the escape of small live sparks.

A throttle-valve 27 is provided in the steamsupply pipe 8, and a suitable lever 28 extends therefrom within convenient reach of the attendants seat 29, erected on a suitable standard at the rear of the feed-water-heating tank. Another lever 30 is also situated within reach of the attendant for the purpose of reversing the engines, and this lever is linked to the rock-shaftSl, journaled in suitable bearings transversely across the front of the boiler, said shaft having arms 32, which are connected by links 33 with the reverse mechanism of the engines, as will be readily understood bythose skilled in the art to which this invention relates.

The appliances by which the traction-engine is steered are located within reach from the seat, and I employ a vertical shaft 35, which is suitably journaled in the feed-water tank, the upper end of which shaft has an ordinary hand-wheel 36, while to the lower end of the shaft is secured a horizontal pinion 35, and carried by another vertical shaft 35 journaled in the feed-water tank adjacent to the shaft 35, is a large horizontal gear 36 with which the pinion 35 meshes. Carried by the shaft 35 above the gear 30 is a sprocketwheel 37. Around this sprocket-wheel passes a chain 38, and the ends of this chain are connected by swivels 29 to the front axle near the ends thereof, so that as the shaftisturned in one direction or the other the front axle will be correspondingly turned to steer the machine in the desired direction.

The driving-shaft I at the rear of the boiler is provided at its ends with small geanpinions K, which mesh with correspondingpinions Zon short counter-shafts L L, that are arranged in rear of the driving-shaft driven thereby, and arejournaled in suitable hearings on the sides of the inner and outer parts of the carryingframe. These counter shafts are furthermore provided at their ends with spur gearwheels on, which lie in the vertical planes of the wheels D, whereby the counter-shaftsare independently geared to the rear carryingwheels to rotate the same, and as said shafts are driven at uniform speed from the common drivin g-shaf t they operate to rotate the wheels D uniformly and propel the machine forward.

The rear axle C of the machine is securely connected to the carrying-frame by means of the clips 39, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 4, each clip consisting of the top plate having IOC IIO

the depending arm and the connecting-plates to straps, which are fitted in said arms and clamped against the bottom edge of the axle by nuts, as shown.

To adapt the machine for the various purposes to which one of this class is employed, in addition to its use of haulingloads, thrashers, 860., I provide a Windlass or drum 40 in rear of the main driving-shaft 1 and adapted to be operated thereby. This drum has its shaft 41 j ournaled in suitable blocks or standards 42, which are adapted to be adjustably secured by bolts to the inner member 2 of the frame, which member is provided at suitable intervals with vertical bolt-holes to receive the securing-bolts of said standards, whereby said standards and the drum carried thereby may be adjusted or fixed at various distances from the driving-shaft, and on said drum-shaft is rigidly secured two spur-gears 43 44, one of which is larger than the other. Then the standards of the drum 40 are secured on member 2 of the frame some distance away from the driving-shaft I, its larger gear 43 is adapted to mesh with a suitable gear 45, fastened to the driving-shaft I by a key or cotter to secure a slow motion to said drum; but when a faster motion is desired the drum and its supports are moved close to the driving-shaft and the gear 45 adjusted lengthwise of the shaft I to mesh with the smaller gear 44, as is obvious. Around the spool of this drum is coiled the rope 46 for lifting weights and other purposes, which rope is adapted to pass rearward and from the machine between suitable guideblocks 47, journaled on the rear cross-bar of the carrying-frame. The spool is adapted to be inclosed by a removable cover to convert the same from a windlass into a leather-faced drum for various purposes, and in Fig. 3 of the drawings I have illustrated a suitable covering, which consists of a series of slats 50, having the side edges inclined or beveled, as shown, and attached to pliable strips 51, which extend lengthwise of the cover, and are adapted to fasten said cover around the drum, with the ends of the slats resting on theheads of the drum, the Whole surface of the cover being concealed by a layer of leather or other friction-surface material 52, which is suitably secured to the slats. The cover can be readily applied to the Windlass, and it affords a solid firm support for the rope; but it can also be easily removed and the simple spool used, as may be required.

The vertical boiler is, as usual, provided with an ash-pit 53 and with a grate 54; but I preferto employ a grate of that form known as a shaking-grate, in which I use certain stationary portions 55 and the sectional hinged'rocking portions 55', operated from a common rock'shaft 56, which shaft has a depending arm 57, to which is connected a rod or link 58, that extends through the ashpit door and is provided with a handleto enable the attendant to operate the grate while occupying the seat at the front of the machine. I also employ a turn-table for the support of the frontend of the carrying-frame on the front axle, and which is constructed to permit the front axle to accomn'lodate itself to the irregularities and unevenness in the ground over which the machine is moving. Attached to the top of the front axle is a lower section 61, having an annular channel therein to receive ball-bearings, which enter a corresponding channelin the intermediate section 62, and said lower section has a central socketpiece 63, which enters a corresponding socket in the lower side of the intermediate section, said socket and socket-piece being concentric with the annular ball-bearing channels and fitting snugly together to insure the necessary horizontal movements of the axle B. The opposing faces of'the intermediate and upper sections 62 and 65 are concaved, and in the center of one sect-ion is a socket which receives the stud or lug 66 on the other section, a horizontal pivot bolt or shaft 67 passing through the intermediate and top sections to permit the desired play or movement of the axle in accommodating itself to the irregularities in the ground.

In the practical construction of my improve ments the front and rear wheels are each to be built of metal with metallic fellies, hubs, and spokes, with the parts suitably united or socketed together.

The operation and advantages of my inventionwill be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, and I do not therefore deem it necessary to repeat the same here.

Changes in many instances in the form and proportion of parts and details of construction can be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In a traction-engine, substantially as described, the combination of the frame supporting the boiler, the steam-cylinders, the double-crank shaft operated by the pistons of the cylinders, the laterally-adj ustable gear carried by said crank-shaft, the drum-shaft, and the fast and slow gears carried by said drum-shaft and adapted to engage the gear of the double-crank shaft, substantially as specified.

2. In a traction-engine, the combination of the driving-shaft, the drum-shaft adjustable toward and from the driving-shaft and carrying the slow and fast speed-gears, and the driving-gear adjustable 011 the driving-shaft to gear with either speed-gear on the drumshaft, substantially as specifiedj 3. In a tractionengine, the combination, with the front axle, of the pivot-section attached to the upper side thereof and having an annular channel to receive ball-bearings and a central socket-piece, an intermediate section having a socket in its under side to ners which straddle the axle and frame and the plates fitted on said arms and clamped against the axle liy nuts substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I ailix mysignatnre in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES BECKNER. Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. MATHIS, .TOHN P. STRONG. 

